In wireless communication networks, such as a cellular network based on the LTE (Long Term Evolution) radio access technology specified by 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project), wireless communication devices (also referred to as user equipment or “UE”) can be located on the basis of positioning reference signals (PRS) transmitted in a downlink direction from base stations, referred to as eNB (evolved Node B) to the UE. The UE receives the PRS and then performs a timing difference of arrival (TDOA) measurement on the basis of the received PRS. The measurement results are transmitted from the UE to a location server, which estimates the position of the UE from the measurement results. A further possibility is to use sounding reference signals (SRS) transmitted by the UE. In this case multiple eNBs may perform TDOA measurements on the SRS transmitted by the UE. Also in this case, the measurement results may be provided to a location server, which estimates the position of the UE from the measurement results.
The PRS and the SRS are typically distributed over the entire LTE system bandwidth. The mapping of the PRS and the SRS to LTE radio resources is defined in 3GPP TS 36.211 V13.2 (2016-06). However, this wide distribution may be problematic for certain UE types which do not support the entire LTE system bandwidth, e.g., Machine Type Communications (MTC) and Narrow-band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) devices. This may for example have the effect that that only a subset of the possible PRSs or SRS can be utilized for positioning measurements and positioning accuracy is reduced.
Accordingly, there is a need for techniques that allow for efficiently enabling position measurements for a wireless communication device.